Discovery BoxLeviticus 10:17
Context10:17 “Why did you not eat the sin offering in the sanctuary? For it is most holy and he gave it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, 1 to make atonement on their behalf before the Lord.
Leviticus 14:13
Context14:13 He must then slaughter 2 the male lamb in the place where 3 the sin offering 4 and the burnt offering 5 are slaughtered, 6 in the sanctuary, because, like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; 7 it is most holy.
[10:17] 1 sn This translation is quite literal. On the surface it appears to mean that the priests would “bear the iniquity” of the congregation by the act of eating the sin offering (so J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:622-25, 635-40). Such a notion is, however, found nowhere else in the Levitical regulations and seems unlikely (so J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 136). A more likely interpretation is reflected in this interpretive rendering: “he gave it to you [as payment] for [your work of] bearing the iniquity of the congregation.” The previous section of the chapter deals with the prebends that the priests received for performing the ministry of the tabernacle (Lev 10:12-15). Lev 10:16-18, therefore, seems to continue the very same topic in the light of the most immediate situation (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:702-4).
[14:13] 2 tn Heb “And he shall slaughter.”
[14:13] 3 tn Heb “in the place which.”
[14:13] 4 sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”
[14:13] 5 sn See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”
[14:13] 6 tn Since the priest himself presents this offering as a wave offering (v. 12), it would seem that the offering is already in his hands and he would, therefore, be the one who slaughtered the male lamb in this instance rather than the offerer. Smr and LXX make the second verb “to slaughter” plural rather than singular, which suggests that it is to be taken as an impersonal passive (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:852).
[14:13] 7 tn Heb “the guilt offering, it [is] to the
